Making a splash: Oak Ridge boys repeat as CIF swimming champions

Saturday was a great day to be in the pool in Fresno, the temperatures creeping into the mid-90s and competition in the water.

Behind Cal-bound All-American senior Bryce Mefford, Oak Ridge High School made it a weekend to remember, repeating as CIF State Swimming champions with a dominating effort.

Mefford was part of two victorious relays, won the 100 yard butterfly in 46.85 seconds and was second in the 200 free in 1 minute, 34.82 seconds. Oak Ridge scored 164 points, well ahead of second-place Gunn of Palo Alto (94).

The Oak Ridge 200-yard medley relay set the state meet record in 1:30.08. Mefford led off and was followed by Ben Dillard, brother Colby Mefford and anchor Colin Reeve.

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Mefford led off the 200 free relay that touched the wall first in 1:22.74, followed by Evan McCormick, Reeve and Leon Kassianenko. Oak Ridge’s 400 free relay was fourth in 3:05.14.

McClatchy freshman Urlando Gianluca was second in the 100 back in 48.19. Will Roberts of Jesuit was third in the 200 IM in 1:50.12.

Girls

St. Francis placed second overall in the CIF meet, scoring 122 points. Monte Vista of Danville won with 123.5 and Rio Americano was fourth with 112.

Amalie Fackenthal of Sacramento Country Day won the 100 free in 49.21 and the 500 free in 22.56, remarkable achievements for an athlete representing a school so small (enrollment 500 for K-12 grades).

Chloe Clark of Granite Bay won the 200 IM in 1:58.33 and was second in the 100 back in 53.94.

Brooke Schaffer of St. Francis was third in the 100 butterfly in 54.05 and Nicole Oliva was third in the 500 free in 4:46.75.

Rio Americano won the 400 free relay in 3:22.97 behind Kailee Nabeta, Lizzie Menzmer, Halladay Kinsey and Tina Reuter, in that order. St. Francis was fourth in 3:25.43.

Rugby – Jesuit defeated Gonzaga of Washington, D.C. 21-13 on Saturday to win the single-school High School Rugby Championship in Kansas City, Mo., for the program’s eighth banner.

In defeating the three-time defending champions, the Marauders dedicated the week to Robert Paylor, a Jesuit alum who was paralyzed from the chest down during a play in Cal’s NCAA championship match in Santa Clara on May 6.

Jesuit players wore “Robrt Paylor Strong” wrist bands. They also signed a game ball for the Cal sophomore. Jesuit coach John Shorey has been in regular contact with the Paylor family, adding that, “Our players rose to the challenge.”

Softball – The top four seeds advanced in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I softball playoffs, headed by two-time defending champion Sheldon, the top seed that plays No. 4 River City on Tuesday at the Arnaiz Softball Complex in Stockton. Sheldon opened the tournament by rolling Franklin of Stockton 15-0 and Turlock 13-0.

No. 2 Tracy and No. 3 Oak Ridge also play Tuesday at Arnaiz.

Baseball – Two-time defending champion Elk Grove plays Delta League rival Davis in the Division I North winner’s bracket final at Sacramento City College.

A win puts Davis or Elk Grove into Friday’s title game at Sac City against the loser’s bracket survivor. Elk Grove swept Davis in two games this regular season and is 2-0 in the playoffs behind ace pitchers Riley Lamb and Brian Freitas.

In D-II at American River College, No. 7 seed McClatchy plays No. 3 Vanden on Tuesday in the second game of the best-of-three series. Vanden leads 1-0.

About This Blog

Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1988. He's an award-winning authority on high school sports, specializing in going behind the scenes to report on what makes teams and athletes unique. Though Davidson has been accused of being a graduate of Del Oro, De La Salle, Elk Grove, Franklin, Grant, Granite Bay, Jesuit, Oak Ridge, Rocklin, St. Francis and many other local schools, he attended high school in Oregon, where he participated in football and track.